SPRINGFIELD - Although she could not hear smoke alarms Stephanie Cortez could smell the smoke and hear the crashing sounds outside her window.

"When I smelled the smoke I ran into my daughters' room, and the room was already on fire," said Cortez, one of more than 30 people displaced or affected by a fire which started at 376 Franklin St. on Sunday at around 11 p.m.

Cortez lived on the second floor of 380-382 Franklin St., a three-family home that also caught fire after the building next to it was engulfed by flames. Both buildings burned to the ground.

How to helpHere are the ways you can contribute to families affected by the Franklin Street fire in Springfield:Event: Block-party fund-raiser When: Saturday, 1 p.m. Where: Corner of Franklin and Underwood streets, Springfield Needed: Clothing for boys ages 6 and 7 and for girls ages, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 11; clothing and diapers for an 11-month-old baby; monetary donations for food and toiletries.

Today, she is living in a motel room in Chicopee that was provided to her family by the state Department of Housing and Community Development. The family must move to a new motel room each night, and Cortez says it has been a struggle to get even minimal services.

"I was asked to wait several hours, and, then on top of that, when I sat down with a worker, she was rude to me and questioned me as to where my paperwork was even after I explained to her that all of my belongings were lost in the fire," Cortez said.

The fire destroyed all of the family's belongings, including all of her identification and food for the month, Cortez said. She and her children escaped only with the clothes on their backs.

Department spokesman Philip Hailer said his agency only recently took over emergency shelter services from the state Department of Transitional Assistance at the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.

"It has only been several days and we are trying to get people what they need during a difficult time," he said.

Area shelters are currently full and cannot accommodate families, Hailer said. So, as a last resort, they have been placing displaced people in motel rooms. The average bill per room every night is $85, he said.

Hailer could not detail where other fire victims relocated; there was a woman with two children in a third-floor apartments, and several residents in the first-floor apartment, according to the American Red Cross.

Cortez has four daughters and one son and had lived in the apartment for only a few months. While there were smoke alarms in the apartment, she did not hear any go off, she said.

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Michael R. Richard confirmed that it is unclear whether there were working smoke alarms in the home. Investigators are looking at possible leads, but have not established a cause for the fire, he added.

Jessica C. Marquez, a case manager for the Family Stabilization Team run by the Community Service Institute based in Springfield, has stepped in to help Cortez and her children.

"Right now the biggest concern is housing. These people need permanent places to live," she said. "With five children it is not logical for them to stay in a one-room motel. They also make them move every night to a different location."

Marquez is now working with the neighbors to host a fund-raising block party for Saturday afternoon.

The event will be held on the corner of Franklin and Underwood streets near the site of the fire. They will sell food and beverages and collect donations of clothing, food and money for the families.

"This is particularly for the children because the woman upstairs from me has two children and I have five children and we have all lost everything. We don't have clothes or diapers," Cortez said.

Cortez said the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army have both stepped forward to help.

"Most of the families are now dealing with state agencies or staying with relatives," said Brenda L. Brouillette, director of disaster services at the Red Cross. The fire consumed the organization's budget for the month of July. Anyone interested in donating to the organization can log on to www.redcrosspioneervalley.org.